Why not give your entrepreneurial life some new life this New Year? If you are already an entrepreneur, you know that the lifestyle can be trying at times to say the least. If it were easy to start, run, and grow your own business earning freedom, fulfillment, and wealth, everyone would do it. The spoils are grand if you can stay the course, but yeah, the road can get rough from time to time. Here are a few of my go-to affirmations when I feel the overwhelm of entrepreneurship coming on.

1. “Overwhelm is an illusion.” As an entrepreneur, overwhelm is completely understandable. I mean, you’re wearing 58 different hats, trying to do it all, trying to succeed at it all, and all the while trying to learn how to sustain whatever success you do find. On top of all that, said success is tied to all your hopes and dreams of wealth, happiness, and life balance too. With all that riding on what you say in your latest blog post or how well you can work Photoshop or whether your files are organized or your clients are responded to, ETC… it makes sense you’d freak out from time to time. So when the inevitable overwhelm wave tries to swallow you up, just breathe, and remind yourself it’s not real.

2. “I always have time for what’s really important.” If you’re like me, you became an entrepreneur for the freedom of being your own boss, and all the possibilities that came with that freedom. Of course in order to create and grow any business from an idea in our heads, we have to work really hard. I mean, there is a LOT to do. ALL the time. As such, it can lead us to question how our “real” life fits in? Make us slip into thinking, “I don’t have time to…” whatever you want to be doing. When you start to feel the weight of all your to-do’s, first notice it… notice when you start to slip into that stress. Then stop, and remind yourself your time is always yours to allocate however you choose.

3. “I am grateful for this period in my life.” Recognizing that your life evolves is key to relaxing into each phase. This time of gritting your teeth and hunkering down to make your business a success is only one short period of your ultimate big picture. It’s not going to last forever, so we better appreciate it for the experience it is while we’re in it. Gratitude is a powerful force against anything angsty… use it for real.. feel it for real.. and feel it promote peace inside you no matter how hairy the time.

4. “I am grateful for this moment.” There is nothing more centering than coming back to the present moment. To exhale our stress.. to look around at the pictures on our wall, to feel the comfy cushion on our butts, to appreciate our co-worker sitting across the table, to bring our minds and bodies back to what’s happening right here and right now. Tap into whatever gratitude you have for whatever you see, and feel it release both your mind and muscles.

When used individually, each one of these affirmations is helpful for the reasons stated. For the most impact, use them all together. Read them again now as a series:

“Overwhelm is an illusion.I always have time for what’s really important.I am grateful for this period in my life.I am grateful for this moment.”